Blame it on the Firewhiskey
by nyckelpigans
Summary: It's said that when you're drunk, you lose control. And that's pretty much what Angelina did; all these suppressed emotions she'd held in burst out. Everything she'd avoided letting out bubbled up to the surface and the last person she'd want to witness it, George Weasley, was there. He was always there.
1. Chapter 1

''Is this safe?'' I asked, examining the bottle of Firewhiskey in my hand, shaking the amber colored liquid in the bottle. I was sure that this would have a lot more effect on me than something like Butterbeer, and that's probably the reason why someone under the age of seventeen wasn't meant to get their hands on it.

The guy next to me, Preston Gibbs, tried to snatch the bottle out of my hand. With the quick reflexes of mine, I managed to dodge it and send him a dangerous look.

He rolled his eyes, a bit tipsy by his own bottle. ''It's Firewhiskey; of course it's not 'safe'. Now, are you going to drink it or not? My bottle is getting a bit empty.''

I managed not to scowl at him. I was just _asking_, which was pretty normal for someone who was only the age of fifteen and had never had a drink before now. For all I knew the twins and the other who'd nicked this from Hogsmeade could've put something much stronger in it.

Either way, I ended up taking a few sips; creating this horrible burning sensation down my throat from doing so. I coughed one or two times, and wiped my mouth. Ugh.

Alicia stared at me with excitement, searching for some kind of reaction. ''Well, how does it taste then?''

I cracked a smile. ''It isn't exactly as tasty as Pumpkin Juice.''

She laughed and hit me playfully in the arm, sitting down beside me and sharing some more bottles she'd gotten from some seventh years students. They all seemed to like Alicia enough to trust her with those.

We talked about some nonsense, about our plans for the Christmas break and other things. It was barely two days left, one of the reasons why we had this little party at the common room.

During the time of the chat, a warm feeling was spreading through me, starting from the pit of my stomach and slowly spreading through my body. It was like my body was filling up with something; courage, maybe? Insanity? I didn't bother to find out, because before I knew it I'd gotten up from the corner of the floor we'd been sitting.

''Come on, let's dance!'' I said to Alicia, making her get up from the floor.

She looked up, a bit surprised at first, but soon, a wicked grin was spreading over her face. She was up on her feet, and they both started dancing around like fools. It wasn't pretty.

The other students soon joined them, and the common room was filled with crazy, drunk students dancing like… like a one-legged pirate with only a left foot. My eyes caught a bit of flaming-red hair around in the dancing crowd.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to concentrate as hard as I could with my mind all tied up in a mess.

I spotted George dancing, a bit tipsy, with a blushing blonde-haired girl. Was it Ava? I couldn't tell by the fast-dancing of theirs.

Whoever the girl was, they were both laughing and dancing — even worse than the others, if I may add. They seemed to have a lot of fun, though.

''Hey, why are you stopping?'' Alicia asked and slowed down from her crazy dance, trying to focus on her face without tripping.

I took my eyes off Ava and George, trying to laugh it all off with a smile on my face. ''Nothing, I was just— ''

I stopped in mid sentence, because suddenly a nauseous feeling hit me like a wall. I stumbled a bit, feeling dizzy.

Now, Alicia seemed to sober up a bit. A worried look crossed her face. ''What's going on? Are you okay?''

''I don't feel very well'', I admitted and made a grimace.

She forced me to sit down with my head between my legs, which I didn't think would help, but after a while it did. Alicia didn't seem to believe this when I tried to convince her, as she stayed with me for a while longer than necessary. She looked a lot more concentrated and sober than before.

''Come on, don't worry about me'', I said and smiled at her. ''Go. Dance or something; I'll be fine, I promise.''

She hesitated but nodded. ''Fine, just don't go and throw up or anything of that sort.''

With that, Alicia went and blended in with the other dancing students in the Common Room.

The small little party didn't feel as much fun anymore.

I got up from the floor, glancing to check so nobody saw me as I nicked two more bottles and went for the portrait hole.

_Fresh air,_ I thought. That would do it.

Somehow —miraculously— I managed to get down all the stairs without falling _once_, avoiding any teacher and sneaking out to through the castle. If I didn't get a crown for pure awesomeness I would just have to steal one.

A bit unconsciously, I headed south; towards the Great Lake. I stopped a bit from it, sitting down in the snow and having a hard grip at the two bottles.

I took a deep breath and laid down, not caring about the snow or the cold. I didn't have my robes on; only a warm sweater, black jeans with holes in it together with a winter cap that somehow had gotten on top her head. I frowned. I better give it back later on.

I took a sip from the bottle, once again feeling the burning sensation in my throat. It wasn't as horrible as the first time, it barely tasted that much. I'd gotten used to it pretty fast.

Standing up, I starting humming on a song under my breath. I was bored out of my mind, and drunk. I squinted at the Great Lake, trying to focus on it. A little fast dip wouldn't be dangerous, now would it? I'd need it, to clean my head and sober up. That's why I'd come out here.

I tried to go as carefully as I could in this state to the lake, but I couldn't even go straight without feeling sick or stumbling.

It ended up with me sitting down, defeated and cursing under my breath. _How on earth could I've gotten out of the castle managing not to get caught, and now not even being able to wash my face with water without feeling nauseous?_

This was so stupid. Drinking was stupid. I hadn't even had that much fun when I thought of it. Although, when I tried to think of it, it was all a blurry mess. Maybe I'd have fun. I wouldn't really remember in this state, would I?

Once again I laid down, letting the cold embrace me and watched the black sky as I inhaled the cold air. I lied down like that in a bit, feeling a bit clearer in the head than before. My eyelids suddenly felt heavier and my vision blurred.

_**www**_

''Angelina?'' a familiar voice spoke.

I grunted and stood up, trying to see where the voice was coming from. The Great Lake was still as dark as the night. I rubbed my eyes and tried to remember how I still was here.

_I must've taken a nap_, I thought. I glanced beside me, catching a flicker of red hair in the dark.

I relaxed a bit and sat down again, stretching my arms. ''What are you doing here, George?''

He looked a bit surprised as he sat down beside me. ''How did you know it was me?''

My ability to tell him and Fred apart always seemed to impress him, since none of his siblings even manage to do it most of the time.

It wasn't lucky guessing, though. It was really easy, if you were a person who paid well attention. The Weasley twins were very different when you come to think of it. They both held themselves in a different way; Fred confident, mocking and mischievous while George in a charming, gentle and beaming way. Even now when I wasn't completely sober, I still could tell it was George by the sound of the gentle and worried tone in his voice. If it was Fred that had come looking for me —not that he would in the first place; he was probably so drunk he'd dropped off somewhere with a girl— he'd hold a bucket of cold water over my head, or woken me up in a more irritating and mocking way, as he usually did.

But I didn't answer all this. Instead I slurred, ''ah, a women never tells.''

He raised an eyebrow, and sat next to me in the grass. I instantly got as alarmed as I could. What? You couldn't blame me. There was always something with George's present that made me act like a fool. No; _not_ like a love-struck puppy dog fool. Just a fool, in general.

''How is it?'' he asked and his eyes seemed to examine me warily. ''You seemed to have pretty fun back there.''

_Yeah, you seemed to have pretty fun with Ava too_. ''I'm fine, I just hope I will feel the same tomorrow morning.''

He chuckled. ''Yeah, considering it's your first time, too. How much did you drink?''

I looked out at Great Lake and shrugged. ''I don't know.''

''Well, you don't really count, do you?'' he said and scooped up a stone under the snow that he threw into the lake.

''No'', I said slowly and avoided meeting his eyes. ''You don't.''

He seemed to pick up that something was wrong, because he suddenly frowned.

''What's going on, Angie?'' George asked now, looking a bit confused. ''You're acting a bit odd.''

I was acting a bit odd. I didn't know what was going on, but I got this feeling that made me want to spit out things without reasons. Whatever my actions were from here; I blamed it fully, and whole-heartedly on the Firewhiskey.

''I'm only avoiding having a conversation with you'', I blurted out after a bit of a silence and caught myself by surprise.

''Huh?''

A part of me, the sane part, wanted to hex myself so hard in that moment.

''I'm trying to avoid you just like you have done to me the past few weeks'', I said, and now the red-head boy seemed pretty surprised. We were two on that.

But the surprise soon turned into guilt, and George now threw another stone before answering.

It was quiet for a bit, and the one who broke the silence wasn't me.

''Uh, yeah'', he said awkwardly and stroke a hand at his neck. ''I don't know what was going on. I'm sorry if you took it the wrong way or anything.''

I looked at him, and two pair of pale blue eyes were staring back.

''It's cool'', I answered, my voice sounding cut-off.

George laughed. ''No it isn't. You're particularly strangling your bottle.''

Glancing down at the bottle in my hands, I realized that it was true. I'd unconsciously strangled a Firewhiskey bottle. That was something.

''Oh. I wasn't thinking about you, though'', I said truthfully and let go of the bottle in my hands.

He smiled and shrugged. ''Wouldn't blame you if you did. You're pretty much one of my best friends, and I'd ignored you for weeks.''

I looked at him, startled as a warm feeling spread through me; and this had nothing to do with the earlier drink.

I'd only known my friends for about four years, and although we'd considered each other close friends, I had never heard George really call me one of his best friends.

''What's wrong?'' he looked at me warily, again. ''You aren't feeling sick, are you?''

I stifled a laugh. ''No. I just didn't know you considered me your best friend.''

George looked at me with confusion, and then a smile grew on the corner of his lips.

''Well, it's pretty obvious. Didn't really needed to announce it to the world, or anything'', he teased.

I smiled, and then looked at the direction at the castle. I didn't feel like hanging around here anymore.

''Do you want to head up for the doors?'' George insisted as he'd read my mind.

I got to my feet, rather not so graceful, and did a very dorky bow saying, ''after you, mi lady.''

We burst out laughing, and then hooked arms. He having grown both taller —and according to the girls, even more attractive— made us look like a funny combo walking there.

It was just one of those small things that made me enjoy the company of George; his easy-going and sometimes, dorky, attitude. I don't know, I believe that this was one of those moments when I actually appreciated our friendship over anything else.

_**www**_

We'd suddenly collapsed of weariness when we got inside the castle. George, looking like he knew what he did, steered us behind a big statue near a classroom. It was like he knew the place by a map or something. It wouldn't surprise me if that was true.

We both sat there, tired and sleepy, sprawling our tired bodies while avoiding the Prefects patrolling. Sitting there, next to him, I realized something. During the weeks he'd avoid me or the once before, he hadn't told me about Ava. Not even once.

He had never actually mentioned her.

''George?''

He glanced at me, his pale eyes softening a bit when seeing my concentrating frown.

''Yeah?'' he answered.

I met his eyes. ''How come you never told me about Ava?''

He flinched, and then avoided my gaze. This seemed like a subject he didn't wanted to discuss. Meaning, more reason to discuss it.

George became silent for a moment, and then shrugged. ''There's not much to tell, really.''

I stared at him blankly. Really? After hearing him chasing her this term wanting her go out with him and him proudly speaking of her all the time with the others is considered _'not much to tell'_?

Well, clearly I needed new dictionary set.

Somehow, the drama queen kicked inside of me. I glanced back, checking that the Prefects were out of sight, and then got up and marched my way to the Gryffindor Tower.

I heard steps behind me, and then a hand on my wrist. ''Wait for a second, will you?'' a voice whispered a bit annoyed, dragging me back behind the statue again.

I turned around and saw George face inches from mine. I instantly stumbled back, secretly hoping that the flush growing on my face wouldn't be visible against my dark skin.

''What is it?'' I hissed, now embarrassed.

He rolled his eyes. ''Look, I didn't really think you'd be interested in who I liked or even dated.''

Slightly offended, I crossed my arms. ''Why not? I'm your 'best friend' aren't I? I should know about these things.''

''It's different with you.''

''Why's that?''

''I don't know'', he shrugged, then leaned against the wall tiredly. ''I guess... I thought you'd be upset or something.''

What did he mean by that? Did he imply that I'd be upset because I liked him?

I only repeated the previous. This time it sounded more like croaking that accusing. ''Why's that?''

George glared at me; he thought that I was teasing him. ''Shouldn't you know?''

I held his gaze for a while, and seconds seemed like minutes before I shrugged and broke the gaze. ''You seem to know me better than I do.''

He looked momentarily surprised before he gained some control of his face and glanced down.

''Well... right now, I don't,'' he admitted sheepishly and dared a smile at me. It was funny how he was looking up at me through his lashes; it gave him the effect of looking much smaller. More vulnerable.

The shadows from the statue we'd hid behind made it hard for the eyes to adjust exactly to the shade, but I could clearly see his freckles who were more apparent now than ever against his pale skin during the winter. I'd always loved the signature freckles of the Weasley's, even though I'd once found Ginny trying to do a spell to get rid of them. It'd taken a long talk with Katie and Alicia by my side to convince the little girl of the beauty of her freckles. I had, of course, accidentally slipped out a comment that had made it horribly awkward for me. (''And it even look great on boys, as well! Look at George for example, many girl think he looks even more good-looking with his freckles... not that— I mean, I don't think that— just, uh, other girls, of course... who think that... not me...'')

_What are you doing? _The little sane part of me urged. _George is your best friend! Remember that declaration minutes ago? No way are you thinking about his tousled red hair laying in front of his eyes, his stocky building that make him look more muscular and those eyes... did I mention those piercing blue eyes?_

''You're pretty much unexpected at the moment.''

I stirred at his words, and then the wheels started turning in my heads. I didn't respond; it was like my mouth refused to move. He didn't say anything either and sat there in silence as he started playing with his hands to distract himself.

My mouth started forming a small smile, and I looked at him with mischievous eyes. ''You mean... 'unexpected' like _this_?''

It was like a wave of courage had taken over me, because before I knew it I'd yanked him to me and covered his mouth with a hungry kiss. He responded immediately and I felt myself relaxing onto the warmth of his lips. It wasn't soft, gentle, and calm. It was rough, hot and fierce — like we had little time to express it all onto a single kiss, and we both knew it.

His mouth was so warm, the caress of his lips softer than I could have imagined. Not that I had imagined it... I mean, that would've been inappropriate... Ahem. Back to the kiss, guys.

As we were about to separate, he left a lingering touch of the lips and I felt rather than saw his lips break out into a smile.

''Yeah,'' he agreed with my previous question, ''that _was _unexpected.''

His hands were gently playing with my hair, and I traced his freckles with my hand. Smiling, I opened my mouth to respond when a horrifying thought crossed my mind.

_Hours ago, it'd been Ava sitting on his lap kissing him._

''Like you and Ava, then.''

My voice sounded strangled, and as if I'd been burned I jumped out of his touch and leaned towards the statue — the closest to far I suddenly could be.

He frowned, confusion and then frustration displaying on his features before looking down and avoiding her gaze. They sat there for a while in silence, until he spoke again.

''I… I don't know what my feelings are for you,'' he confessed slowly, voice breaking. Still avoiding my gaze, he kept going. ''But I think —I'm not sure, but I guess… I guess like her. She's nice and all. I think?''

With a blank expression, I studied his face, and then averted my eyes.

''I like her too,'' I lied, and eventually forced a grin. ''She's kind of pretty, isn't she? I don't blame you.''

''You're sounding like you are.''

Silence fell down on us once again, and I glanced behind the statue to see an empty hall. It was quiet, still and maybe it would've appeared peaceful if it weren't for the situation I was in. The floor was cold, and suddenly, I felt just as.

''George?'' I whispered, not daring to raise my voice any louder as I didn't trust it from trembling.

His head perked up, and his eyes met mine. ''Yeah?''

''Why don't you see me?''

A nervous laugh escaped for him, and he probably assumed it was the Firewhiskey talking.

''I _do_ see you,'' he acknowledged. ''I'm looking at you right now.''

I shook my head and got bit dizzy from doing so. ''No, I mean, if you did _see_ me, then… then me kissing you wouldn't have been unexpected at all. You would've seen it coming.''

It took him a while to understand where I was heading at, because he looked very bewildered at first until his face dawned with understanding.

''Oh,'' he said quietly, not sure on what to say. ''Are you saying that–?''

''That I think I like you? Yeah. It's possible. I think.''

He looked at me intensely as if he tried to figure something out. It made me slightly nervous, and even more so when he seemed to get closer. I caught my breath, not daring to move an inch.

A little dumb part of my brain almost hoped that he would kiss me until I remembered our conversation earlier about Ava. To my relief, he only reached out to tug a hair strand that way in the way of my face.

''You're only saying that because you're affected by, you know,'' he inclined softly, and she knew he meant the Firewhiskey.

I frowned, catching his hand to make him focus on me and not on my hair.

''I'm not,'' I insisted, ''and even if I was, it wouldn't make it any less true.''

He pulled his hand out from my grip and raised an eyebrow as if to question her. ''Well, I want you to tell me it when you're not.''

''Why?'' I argued. ''What's the difference?''

''The difference is that you aren't yourself,'' he shot back, ''and I want you to be when you tell me. _Sober_.''

I rolled my eyes and leaned back towards the statue, crossing my arms over my chest and putting on the sourest facial expression I could managed.

''That's no fun,'' I muttered miserably.

He only chuckled and leaned back to the wall and observed me for a while until I gave him a sour look. However, what he said next caught me off guard.

''Was that... was that your first kiss?'' he asked softly.

I didn't respond immediately, and when I did, I avoided his gaze. ''Um, yeah...'' I admitted quietly, and as an afterthought I added, ''yours?''

He seemed reluctant to answer, because as she glanced at him he seemed to wear an almost pained expression. I suddenly realized I already knew the answer, of course I did. How stupid was I? How many times hadn't I seen him with other girls – snogging their heads off?

''No,'' he mumbled at last, and even though she'd excepted the answer it didn't lessen the blow.

''Oh.''

My mind was suddenly spinning with different thoughts of who it could be, and I was about to ask when a voice yelled, ''Aha! I _knew_ that those 'Prefects' didn't search the corridors as well as I do. Now, now, let me see your faces...''

Mr. Filch's raspy voice came closer, and my eyes went wide-eyed. I exchange looks with at George, and he mouthed 'run', making us both run the opposite way down the hall as fast as our legs could take us.

''Slow down, you darn—_AHA!_ I caught that glimpse of red hair, sir. Weasley, eh? I'll catch you…''

I actually laughed. There was no doubt that it could be anyone else then one of the twins out this late in the castle; and Filch seemed to know that pretty well.  
Both laughing, we turned to the other corner of the hall. I felt George hand around my wrist once again, and being dragged in something looking like a broom closet.

We forced ourselves to stifle our laughs when Mr. Filch steps became further; and as soon as they were we started to burst out laughing again.

''If getting into trouble is this fun'', I said as I took a breath after the laughing, ''I might consider doing it more often.''

George blue eyes caught mine, and broke out into a wide grin. ''I wouldn't mind that.''

* * *

**A/N:** Very romantic, very cheesy, just horribly cliché and very much an ideal thing to write for a 16 year old girl bored out of her mind during summer break. This got deleted somehow, so I decided to re-upload it with some changes and one of these disclaimer things because, _obviously_, I look very much like J.K Rowling and it needs to be sorted out.

Honestly though, I've only written 5 chapters so far to this story and I'm not sure if I'll finish this as I'm working on a Next Generation fic that should be coming up sometime after I found a beta to look through it. Ah, the struggle.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the world of Harry Potter as I'm not the author, all rights goes to J.K Rowling and Warner Bros.


	2. Chapter 2

The drinking, dancing, sleeping, confrontation and running; it all came back to me sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast with Alicia, Katie, Martha and Tracy. But let me start off from the waking up part. Oh, and the throbbing headache, nausea and stomach ache. It was called a hangover, I think. And it was exactly what I felt like — hung over.

''If _you_ feel a bit hangover, I wonder how Fred feels,'' Katie mused while getting in her robes. ''Compared to him last night, we drank nothing.''

Alicia scoffed, clearly not liking the thought of it. ''I wonder if he got to his bed safely. With the Dementors and everything out, I wouldn't go outside the castle.''

I nearly choked while brushing my teeth.

''Angelina, you're alright?'' Katie shouted from the other side of our door. ''Are you vomiting?''

_Not yet,_ I thought. ''No, no. I'm fine,'' I replied, but my voice sounded choked.

I heard footsteps entering the toilet, and our third roommate Martha came in.

She made a funny face when she saw me. ''You look like you've seen a ghost.'' She had no idea.

How come I hadn't noticed or even _seen_ any Dementors when I'd snuck out of the castle?

''Hey, something up?'' Martha asked, brushing her mop of auburn hair out.

I frowned, deep in thought. ''I'm fine.''

''Sure,'' she answered hesitantly and then eyed me suspiciously.

I got out of the toilet and got dressed. I chatted a bit with the others, but I felt distant. My head was too deep in the thoughts; trying to remember things from the other night.

_**www**_

By the time we walked down the stairs for breakfast, the 'remembering short snippets from last night' started. It began when I saw Ava talking to a Ravenclaw Prefect. It was like a memory triggered in my brain; either how, with Ava came George. And everyone knew that with George came trouble.

I started to remember the dancing, which had been a _little_ of a blur. Now I saw it clear, though. Them dancing, laughing; and me stopping, staring. Why had I done that? When I come to think of it, my reaction had been a bit silly. I'd stared like… like I cared. Which I didn't, or at least I didn't want to.

''What are you guys thinking about?'' I heard Alicia's voice ask when we sat down at the Gryffindor table.

I looked up and realized that I hadn't been the only one spacing out.

''Nothing special,'' Katie said, looking a bit off herself while glancing around. ''Have any of you seen Lee? He had my cap last night.''

I stared at her. ''That was yours?'

''You have it?''

I laughed, a bit guilty since I didn't even know where it was now. ''Yeah. Not anymore, though. I think George has it.''

And that triggered it, and by 'it' I mean the memories with George last night. Just by saying his name and thinking about the cap; the cap which I wore in the Great Lake, where he'd followed me, triggered it.

_''I'm only avoiding having a conversation with you.''_

_''How come you never told me about Ava?''_

_''I should know.''_

I could hear a voice beside me talking to me, but I didn't listen to it. I was paralyzed, staring at my plate that was filling up with my breakfast. Had I really said that? It didn't sound like me. That would say, me normally. Because in a circumstance where I—

OH. MY. GOD.

Like open clouds above me, the memories' of the kiss spurried down on my head like an open rainstorm. I found myself frozen in my seat. The last thing I managed to do was to grip Katie's arm next to me.

''What are you doi—'' she stopped mid sentence when she caught my terrified expression. ''Oh, no. Angelina? Angie?''

Martha frowned, stopping to smear her bread with butter and snapped her fingers in front of me. ''Hey? Are you there? Oi, Angie? I think she's having an allergic reaction of some sorts. She didn't like butter, right?''

As if I had an outer-body experience, I heard myself mutter something incoherent.

''What was that?''

Tracy, sitting opposite to me, leaned in closer over the table as she squinted her eyes to make out the words from my mouth. ''Uh, I can't quite make out what she's saying…''

''Ah, for Merlin's sake!'' Alicia muttered and I felt a hard slap across my face.

''I KISSED GEORGE WEASLEY!''

I clasped my hands over my mouth and all the girls around stared with wide eyes and their mouth's hanging.

''You did not,'' Martha whispered, forgetting her butter sandwich.

''YOU DID WHAT?'' I turned to see Alicia climbing over the table —getting amused looks from the students around and the Professor's protesting— to grab by shoulders and shake them. ''ANGELINA JANE JOHNSON, _I want details now_! And don't even think about leaving out anything of the nasty. Even the drooling! Well, uh, alright _not_ the drooling... but everything else.''

Too surprised and shaken up to respond, I simply nodded and managed a small smile at my best friend. I was in shock.

''Wasn't he like together with Ava, though?'' Tracy whispered and nodded towards the Hufflepuff table, where I caught a shimmer of blonde hair.

I sighed audibly and put my face in my hands. Katie glared at Tracy who bit her lip, and I felt my misery welling up.

''Don't freak out,'' Katie interrupted and touched my arm, ''but he's coming through the doors now.''

I glanced at the doors. Seeing him there, together with Fred, Lee and Michael and only few, few steps from here made my stomach turn.

No, no, no. I couldn't meet George. Sure, I _could_, but I didn't want to. Whatever I was about to do next; I didn't really have a good explanation for. Instead of being cool and calm, I did something very un-Gryffindor like.

I jumped down and hid under the tables.

''What on earth are you doing!'' Alicia hissed. ''You can't run from him!''

''Oh yeah?'' I whispered back. ''Watch me, Spinnet!''

I heard the boys' steps coming closer, and I crawled under the table that led straight to the big doors.

When I got up, I brushed away the dirt from my robes. Unconsciously, my eyes searched the Gryffindor table where a pair of pale blue eyes met mine. Oh, no.

I headed casually for the doors, silently praying. _Please, don't let him notice me. Please, please, please_—

''Oi, Angie!''

Clearly, Jesus didn't like answering 5 second prayers sent his way. I continued walking as I hadn't heard, but I heard his voice again.

''Hey, Angelina. Wait up!'' Great.

I slowed down and turned to meet him. Seeing him walking towards me, a grin on his lips, made my stomach do this funny flip.

''Are you running away from me?'' he teased, when he reached me in the hall outside the doors.

I laughed nervously. ''How did you know?''

Ironically, though, it had been exactly what I'd been doing.

He laughed, a nervous laugh as well, and shrugged. ''I just wanted to, uh, ask you about something about last night...''

Oh, no. He was going to bring it up.

''Look, George,'' I interrupted before he could continue, and pressed a smile. ''I really want to talk but, uh, I really need to run and finish... this, uh, essay! Yeah, you know that last-minute essay we got in... no? Well, I _really_ have to finish it up before the Christmas break starts tomorrow, so... yeah.''

He stopped and stared at me, a bit disappointed. ''Oh. Okay, sure.''

I avoided looking into his eyes, because if I did, I knew that the lie would be all too obvious.

_Why are you lying to him?_ A voice in my head said. _You're making it all worse._

''Alright,'' I heard George say, his voice sounding odd, ''I'll see you later.''

I watched him go and felt the guilt overflow me; and then it all vanished as I saw Ava approach him. My stomach made a horrible lurch, and even though I hadn't eaten any breakfast that morning I felt like throwing up.

_**www**_

''Okay,'' Alicia declared later on that night as they'd all gathered around my bed to hear what Alicia called the 'nasty'. ''You're going to tell us everything. Not too little, and _definitely_ too much.''

I couldn't help the smile that escaped my lips despite the horrible day that had gone by. Of course, I'd ended up ruining a brew during Potions' class and even got a zit on my face which I'd noticed later on. Professor Snape took a good amount of house points from Gryffindor while informing me that I was flunking class. I loved my life.

''Since when do you care so much about romance?'' I asked her, knowing what she thought of it all too well after all these years. ''I thought you used those romance novels as napkins for when you got sick.''

''That's me,'' Katie declared and raised a hand. ''And even though I do claim to hate that bollocks, it's definitely different when it's one of your best friends.''

'''Best friends', huh?'' I teased and wiggled my eyebrows suggestively. ''That's what George said too before we snogged. Should I be worried, Katie?''

''HE SAID WHAT?''

I laughed, getting into a better mood as Alicia pinned me down and urged me to tell everything. When I started explaining it all, I noticed that it sounded all too surreal. I often caught myself thinking if it really wasn't just my imagination running.

''Wait,'' Martha interrupted me and swallowed a handful of the crisps she'd been eating. ''He kissed you, and then told you he _thought_ he liked Ava? Merlin's beard, what a prick!''

''Uh, technically she kissed him,'' Katie observed.

Tracy snorted, throwing her strawberry colored hair over her shoulder. ''But he kissed her _back_, so it doesn't really matter or make a difference.''

''Of course it matters!'' Alicia protested, and looked at them all with melodramatic wide eyes. ''Every. Single. Detail. Matters.''

Katie, who'd tried to pin her thick hair up in a bun gave up and turned to them from the mirror. ''No guy really says no to a girl kissing him, and Angie isn't really that bad-looking, now is she? So it definitely does make a difference over the fact that _she_ kissed _him_.''

_Not really that bad-looking?_ I thought. _Had she _seen_ the gigantic zit on my face?_

At the thought of my zit, my hand unconsciously reached up to cover it with my hand.

''I disagree,'' Martha interrupted and threw one of her crisps on Katie's head.

''Whoa there,'' I protested, and held them back before a food fight broke loose. ''It doesn't really matter who kissed who. It's not like it's going to happen again.''

_It wasn't going to happen again._

Realizing what I'd just said, silence fell, and the laughter I'd felt bubbling up minutes ago disappeared. The thought of it left an aching feeling and a bitter taste in my mouth. Somehow, all the talking and analyzing had left a naïve thought that George was just another available guy I could normally talk and flirt with the next day.

Of course it wasn't like that.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and as I looked after who it was I caught Katie's warm smile in an effort to comfort me.

''It's alright,'' she said gently. ''Trust me, it's always tricky in the beginning, but it's all worth it in the end. I know from personal experience.''

The last sentence caught Alicia's attention, who eyed her best friend suspiciously. ''Wait, w_hat _personal experience exactly?''

Katie's sharp features seemed to soften as she blushed, and we all gaped at her. ''Well, Lee and I…''

''I KNEW IT!'' Martha exclaimed, high-fiving Alicia and grinned. ''After that little comment on him having your cap last night during breakfast I just _knew_ it.''

I hugged Katie and we all started pestering her with questions, and as the attention drifted from me, I mentally thought about what we'd all just talked about now.

All these feeling I'd felt today (''jealousy,'' Tracy had said when I'd mentioned it to her) got me wondering. What was happening? Was I maybe developing a crush on George?

_No, no no,_ I thought. _Avert the attention from that thought IMMEDIATELY._

As a way of distracting myself from my thoughts, I grabbed the bag of crisps from Martha's grip and shoved it all into my mouth.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the world of Harry Potter as I'm not the author (although, I do get that I look like her a lot, but the fact that she's 48 and I'm 16 makes it a bit harder to see the resemblance. I mean, and the different skin tones, nose shapes, eye features and... Okay, maybe I don't look like her.)

All rights goes to J.K Rowling and Warner Bros.


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